Assistant Secretary of the Navy (AIR)

The Assistant Secretary of the Navy (AIR) was a civilian office of the United States Department of the Navy. The Assistant Secretary of the Navy (AIR) initially reported to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy and later to the Under Secretary of the Navy.

Flag of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Aeronautics

With the emergence of naval aviation as a major new military technique, the Navy had increasingly large organizations to oversee it. From 1910, there was an Officer in Charge of Aviation, then a Director of Naval Aeronautics, then in 1916 a Director of Naval Aviation. In 1921, Congress replaced those with a Bureau of Aeronautics. Finally, on June 24, 1926, Congress created the position of Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Aeronautics to oversee the United States' naval aviation forces. The position was vacant from 1932 until 1941, and upon being re-occupied, the position was re-titled Assistant Secretary of the Navy (AIR) on September 11, 1941.[1]

On February 6, 1959, the office was redesignated Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research and Development).[2] In April 1977, the name was changed to Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Engineering and Systems).[2]

The office was disestablished in 1990, when the office was merged with the office of Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Shipbuilding and Logistics) to create the new office of Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and Acquisitions).[2]

Assistant Secretaries of the Navy for Aeronautics, 1926—1932
Name Assumed office Left office President appointed by Secretary served under
Edward Pearson Warner July 7, 1926 March 15, 1929 Calvin Coolidge Curtis D. Wilbur
David Sinton Ingalls March 16, 1929 June 1, 1932 Herbert Hoover Charles Francis Adams III

Assistant Secretaries of the Navy (AIR), 1941—1959
Name Assumed office Left office President appointed by Secretary served under
Artemus Gates September 5, 1941 June 30, 1945 Franklin D. Roosevelt Frank Knox, James Forrestal
John L. Sullivan July 5, 1945 June 17, 1946 Harry S. Truman James Forrestal
John N. Brown January 12, 1946 March 8, 1949 Harry S. Truman James Forrestal, John L. Sullivan
Dan A. Kimball March 9, 1949 May 24, 1949 Harry S. Truman John L. Sullivan
John F. Floberg December 5, 1949 July 23, 1953 Harry S. Truman Francis P. Matthews, Dan A. Kimball, Robert B. Anderson
James H. Smith, Jr. July 23, 1953 June 20, 1956 Dwight D. Eisenhower Robert B. Anderson, Charles Thomas
Garrison Norton July 7, 1956 February 5, 1959 Dwight D. Eisenhower Charles Thomas, Thomas S. Gates, Jr.

Assistant Secretaries of the Navy (Research and Development), 1959—1977
Name Assumed office Left office President appointed by Secretary served under
James H. Wakelin, Jr. June 5, 1959 June 30, 1964 Dwight D. Eisenhower William B. Franke, John Connally, Fred Korth, Paul Nitze
Robert W. Morse July 1, 1964 June 30, 1966 Lyndon B. Johnson Paul Nitze
Robert A. Frosch July 1, 1966 January 20, 1973 Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon Paul Nitze, Paul Ignatius, John Chafee, John Warner
David S. Potter September 14, 1973 August 16, 1974 Richard Nixon John Warner, J. William Middendorf
H. Tyler Marcy October 15, 1974 April 4, 1977 Gerald Ford J. William Middendorf

Assistant Secretaries of the Navy (Research, Engineering and Systems), 1977—1990
Name Assumed office Left office President appointed by Secretary served under
David E. Mann April 1977 January 1981 Jimmy Carter W. Graham Claytor, Jr., Edward Hidalgo
Gerald A. Cann January 1981 December 1981 Ronald Reagan John Lehman
Melvyn R. Paisley December 1981 March 1987 Ronald Reagan John Lehman

References
  1. Grossnick, Roy A. (1997), "Appendix 2: Aviation Commands" (PDF), United States Naval Aviation 1910-1995, Naval Historical Center
  2. Assistant Secretary of the Navy (AIR), Naval History & Heritage Command
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